Tuesday, January 15, 2013

"It is a matter of price". This is what French President Francois Hollande said regarding a possible Rafale sell to the UAE.
Hollande was in the country today to meet UAE authorities and discuss about the ongoing crisis in Mali as well as possible commercial deals.

In other words the UAE would still be interested in the French fighter jet and its technology, but reject the price asked by Dassault. In the meatime they are also considering the Eurofighter and the F/A-18E as possible alternatives.

A yesterday article from the New York Times quote locals stating that Rafale strikes have been deadly on islamists positions.

[...] The French attacks on Gao, an insurgent stronghold in the north, were
welcomed by Abdheramane Oumarou, a local counselor reached late Sunday
after a day of French airstrikes.

“We are in the best of all possible worlds,” he said. “The planes have
been circling Gao since 5 this morning. All of the sites they targeted,
they hit. The airport. The warehouses, they destroyed them. These were
all sites occupied by the Islamists, and they have been totally
destroyed.”

AASM missiles being loaded on a Rafale

“The Islamists are in hiding. There were many dead,” he added. For the
first time since the insurgents overran the town last year, “the
population of Gao will sleep soundly, and will even snore.”

In Douentza, a town south of Gao but still inside Islamist-held
territory, French strikes have driven the Islamists “into the bush,”
said the parliamentary deputy from the region, Fatoumata Dicko. “We are
breathing much easier now,” she said.[...]

Monday, January 14, 2013

4 Rafale left the Saint Dizier Air Base saturday-Sunday night to conduct their first strikes over the cities of Gao and Kidal. They were carrying their full load of 6 AASM or 6 GBU-12 as well as 3 2000L fuel tanks and Damocles pod.

As per the video footage below, showing the Rafale landing at N'Jamena, Tchad, after their mission, 21 bombs/missiles were probably fired during the attacks : One of the Rafale didn't fire 3 of its 6 AASM. It is also worth noting that 3 of the Rafale were two seaters but with only one pilot onboard.

According to witnesses, several islamist key positions (training camps, amunition depots) were hit by the Rafale strike.

According to several sources, Rafale fighter jets from the Normandie Niemen squadron as well as Tiger helicopters could be deployed in the next days to increase the air strike capabilities of the French forces.